Human rights applicants are abandoning their cases

Getting a final decision from the tribunal typically stretches between four and 10 years.

Kathy Laird, a member of Tribunal Watch Ontario’s steering committee

Ontario’s human rights tribunal reducing backlog with onerous filing requirements, watchdog says

The watchdog says a growing number of human rights applicants are abandoning their cases

Law Times (abridged)
Jessica Mach
13 November 2024

A watchdog group described the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO) as “the place where human rights claims go to die,” pointing to a high number of dismissed claims, years-long wait times for applicants, and diminished funding for legal aid.

The watchdog, Tribunal Watch Ontario, said in an analysis published Tuesday that an unprecedented 93 percent of the final decisions that the HRTO made in 2023 and 2024 were “jurisdictional or procedural” dismissals of applications.

80% of those cases were dismissed

Tribunal Watch Ontario said that nearly 80 percent of those cases were dismissed because the HRTO determined they had been abandoned by applicants, most of whom had been waiting for years to have their cases heard.

“There are strong indications that people who may have legitimate claims are simply giving up after their cases languish for years, mired in the HRTO’s process,” said the analysis. “As a strategy to handle its huge backlog, the HRTO appears to be pushing applicants into abandoning their claims.”

Kathy Laird, a member of Tribunal Watch Ontario’s steering committee, told Law Times on Tuesday that applicants’ lack of legal knowledge accounts for many dismissals.

complaint form is about 20 pages long

Laird says Ontario’s human rights system was set up with the expectation that most people would file complaints on their own without the help of a lawyer. She notes that the complaint form is about 20 pages long and asks applicants to tell their stories in their own words.

However, Laird says the HRTO’s process has become increasingly difficult for self-represented applicants to navigate independently.

According to Tribunal Watch Ontario’s analysis, the HRTO’s complaint process has grown less accessible and more expensive for self-represented applicants since the tribunal was brought under the oversight of Tribunals Ontario in 2019, relying on formalities and technicalities that effectively prevent complaints from being fairly resolved.

However, 80 percent of applicants are not represented by counsel when they file claims with the HRTO.

The watchdog noted that the Human Rights Legal Support Centre, “has been starved for funds for years” and has shrunk as a result.

Laird says that since the HRTO came under its current leadership appointed by Premier Doug Ford’s administration, “We've seen a steady rise in tribunal-initiated motions to dismiss using a variety of different forms, but all amounting to a direction to file what can be very complex legal submissions.

Based on the HRTO’s quarterly reports on the decisions it issues, Laird calculated that the number of applicants who abandoned their cases has nearly tripled. Fewer than 400 applicants abandoned their cases in 2017 and 2018, while more than 1,000 did the same in 2023 and 2024.

Tribunal Watch Ontario said access to justice issues will likely grow if the HRTO implements a series of proposed procedural changes it announced on Oct. 25. These changes include eliminating summary hearings, case management conference calls, expedited hearings, and interim remedies.

between four and 10 years

The watchdog said that for applicants who do get a full hearing at the HRTO, the period between filing a complaint and getting a final decision from the tribunal typically stretches between four and 10 years.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Tribunals Ontario said many factors impact the HRTO’s ability to adjudicate complaints promptly. These include applicants’ failure to comply with case assessment directions, incomplete applications, the complexity of a file, requests from parties for an extension of time, adjournments, deferral of files because of other proceedings, and more.

Tribunals Ontario also noted that it has made progress in reducing its caseload. At the end of June, the number of active cases totalled 8,800—nearly a 1,000 reduction from the 9,700 active cases in February 2023. Last year was the first time since 2013 that the tribunal was able to reduce its case count.

However, Laird was not convinced that the HRTO’s reduced backlog indicated success.

“Historically, the tribunal has been able to handle about 3,000 a year. So that means they still have a two-or three-year backlog,” she says.

“They've whittled down their backlog by 1,000—we know exactly what has happened to those 1,000,” Laird says, adding applicants have “abandoned their cases.

“Is that what our human rights tribunal is supposed to be doing?” she asks. “Setting up onerous roadblocks for people who don't have a lawyer, and then whittling down their backlog by basically shutting people out of the system?

Below are six essays I wrote about a Human Rights Application I made to the
Human Rights of Ontario Tribunal in December 2023. I heard nothing from them until 04 April 2025 when they requested additional information on two questions.

Little wonder that so many people abandon their claims.

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